Queen of Masquerades
by MusicHuntress
Summary: The sequel to Warrior Princess and Fire's Rose. Book 3. * * ON HIATUS and important authors note at the end.
1. prologue

**A/N: **

***DISCLAIMER: BEFORE YOU READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE, KNOW THAT I'M NOT TRYING TO HURT ANYBODY'S FEELINGS. IF I DO, THEN I _APOLOGIZE_ FOR BEING _MY HONEST SELF. _**

**Ok, so I know that some of you have heard this before, but I really want you guys to comment. I want you to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you think is going to happen next, spelling/grammar mistakes, what shocked you, what was predictable...that kind of stuff. But don't flame me or say 'this sucked'(the probably with saying 'this sucked' is that it doesn't help at all. You aren't giving me any information. Does my grammar suck? Not enough details? A character does something unrealistic? Tell me what's wrong so I can FIX it.)**

**The second thing that I don't want is stupid fluff. By 'fluff' I mean stuff like...**

**"oh my god, I'm your biggest fan!"**

**Yes, it sounds nice-but that kind of stuff creeps me out a bit ,I really don't want to know that, and it reallyyyyyyyy reallllyyyy realllly annoys me(esp. when it's said more than once). I don't like to bask in positive praises('I love you' '*insert my name,* said with cooey/creepy/rape-like voice*) like most people. I'm more likely to run away or throw you off a cliff so I can listen to my music in peace-without the fear of getting raped(that's why I don't have a facebook. There are too many pedos and creepy and scary and lying people in this world D;) **

**Hey. Don't point fingers at me. I'M JUST BEING HONEST! **

**Thirdly, if you just say 'update soon' over and over and over again in the time in between the writing period of 2 chapters. I'm NOT going to update soon if you do that, ok? Thank you ;) **

**Fourthly...please, please _please _don't fangirl(this ties into the 'first' or '****second'. :{ Ok? Annoying fangirls really get on my nerves. I can't take the screams. They(the screams) rape my poor eardrums and eyes ;( And I'm a GIRL! D: The atrocity(oh yes, and it's kind of ironic that a girl that doesn't like fangirling and that kind of stuff is on a website called Fanfiction...but hey. I made this account...around 1.5-2 years ago.)! I have no problem with (chill) fans, I just don't welcome crazy fans into my almost nonexistant fanbase :) But one exception is that you can root for the characters(ex: go Olympia! Olympia is an amazing character! Team *insert name*!)-That kind of stuff is fine. **

******Ok,so the main point of this author's note is that I didn't come here for people for go like "i love you!" and that kind of stuff. No, I came here for people to get entertained by my stories and people to help me become a better writer.**

**So yeah. Those are my 'rules'(1. Don't fangirl-I'm not saying that you can't like my story, You're allowed to like/love it. Just don't go crazy about it. 2. Don't nag me to update every other day.) It's pretty simple :) The people who reviewed Fire's Rose WHILE I was writing it didn't break any of these rules(even though they weren't in place at the time) . If they didn't break them, you can too! :D **

** Anyways...on to the good part!**

* * *

**Queen of**

**Masquerades**

**Prologue**

The jingles on the door jingled as I walked into her room. When I sat down on the cushion, a women sat down in front. I took a sharp breath . She was beautiful. Her silky black hair was in a classic up-do, showing her jewel adorned neck. A diamond necklace hung around her neck, sending sparkles up to her brown eyes. Diamond earrings hung from her ears. A sexy black dress covered her body, daring people to touch her. She smiled at me as she brought out a crystal ball.

**(A/N: Did you read my author's note? If you didn't, please read it. It's VERY important. If you did read it, thanks!)**

"Hello there," she said in an Indian accent. "My name is Parvati and it's nice to meet you…" The women slid her over hand over mine, causing to chills to sprint all over my body. "…Isidore." Parvati removed her hand from mine and placed it on the crystal ball. She looked at me from under her eyelashes. "Give me a moment to read your fortune."

I nodded. _Ok_, I thought to myself. _I'll just sit here and stare you until you are done. No biggie. It's like I have to go anywhere…other than my dumpy apartment. Unless Fedora was wrong. Honestly, I don't know if I want her claims to be true or false. Going from rags and riches? It's so unlikely. She must be bluffing…why am I even here? It's usele-"_

"Oh my my my," Parvati muttered with wide eyes. "What an inexorable twining of fate we have here." She placed her gloved hands on her hips and looked at me. "Take a gander at the ball."

I followed her instructions and saw things that almost made me fall off the beanbag. _Riches. A throne. A crown. A teenager. Europe at night. The same teen taunting a boy on the verge of tears. A birth certificate. Me sitting on a throne. A man in jail. And lastly, me kissing a pretty girl with black hair. _

I blinked at Parvati.

"This has got to be a joke, right?"

* * *

**A/N: This chapter is very important...very very important. ;)**

**And if you're going to review-remember the rules please! :D Thank you!**


	2. Ch 1

**A/N: Here's chapter 1. Sorry for the 'long(long? this wasn't a long wait. It's been 2-3 months. There are stories that I haven't worked on for 4-+1 year. Consider yourselves lucky.) wait'**

**-Music Huntress **

**p.s.-this chapter has been done for about a month. :) I didn't put it out right away 'cuz somebody(*cough* B.M. *cough*) broke the 'fangirl rule.' ;) Next time somebody breaks the rule the wait will be longer than normal. Ok? Thanks :D**

Country music floated into my ears as I strode into the club. White light from the disco ball swam over square dancing couples. A table with fruit, vegetables, and cookies sat in a corner. The smell of expensive perfume flooded my nostrils. I closed the door behind me as a girl with black hair and a brunette walked towards me . I shot them a small smile.

The girl with black hair giggled.

"Hey," she slurred in a Croatian accent. "I'm Gabriella . Who are you? You look so familiar…" Gabriella drunkenly flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to the brunette. "Doo you know who he is Katerina?,"

The brunette examined her black fingernails and shrugged, paying no attention to me. " I could care less," the brunette stated, flaunting her Greek accent. She flicked her wrist and placed a hand on her hip. The brunette cocked her head as she looked at Gabriella. "Do you have any idea where my boyfriend is? He said that he would be here soon."

Gabriella's eyes filled with sadness. "Noooo, I don't know. If I knew, I would tell you." Her deep green eyes flickered back to me. "…but in the mean time we can figure out who he is."

Katerina placed a hand over her mouth as she yawned. "Why don't you just ask him his name while I go get some grape juice?"

Blush covered Gabriella's cheeks as she thought about Katerina's idea. She let out a small laugh. "Sure, I'll do that."

Katerina nodded at Gabriella and walked away. Once Katerina was gone, Gabriella sighed.

"I hate acting drunk around Katerina." She ran a hand nervously through her ebony hair and stared at the marble tiles."She wants to corrupt me…" Gabriella shuddered and slowly looked up from the shiny tiles. "What is your name?," she asked in a hushed tone.

I smiled at her, causing a light blush to fly across her face. "You know, I never thought that you would ask." I stuck my hand out. "I'm Mace."

Gabriella stared at my hand, not sure what to do. My smile fell as she stood stiller than a statue.

"You know that you are supposed to shake it, right?"

Gabriella's body shook as she pointed to a man entering the room. An air of untapped power surrounded him, making me shudder a little bit. His eyes were very deep, plunging any lookers into a sea of electric blue. The man's eyes were framed by midnight eyelashes that would make any women jealous. Feather-like black hair covered his head, stopping right above his eyes and a black stud in both ears. A big pair of black headphones hung around his neck, making his face look paler than it really was. He looked imitating until you looked at his clothes . His black shirt was ripped, allowing people to see the 8 pack that lay beneath it. Ripped royal blue skinny jeans hugged his legs. The man's feet were scraped and bloody. Gabriella trembled next to me as he noticed us and started walking towards us.

"I-I-ts h-him!," Gabriella stuttered. She buried her head in my chest. "I-i-it's Isi-"

"Hello there Gabriella," the deepest voice that I had ever heard said. "How are you doing on this fine Tuesday night?"

Gabriella pulled away from my body to look at the man. Her upper body started to shake violently. Before I could stop her from shaking, Katerina gripped her shoulders.

"Chill Brie," Katerina muttered. "He's not going to hurt you."

Gabriella looked at Katerina with wide eyes that were filled with tears. "Yes he is!"

Katerina shook her head and gave the man an apologetic look. He half smiled at her and reached out to touch her arm.

"Don't worry Gabriella," he cooed. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. "

She flinched as his hand came in contact with her arm. Gabriella looked up at him with Bambi eyes.

"That's what you said the last time. You're going to hurt me again."

Next to her, Katerina sighed impatiently. "Brie, you'll be fine. If you don't return soon, I'll find you and beat Isidore to a pulp, alright?"

Gabriella slowly nodded. Isidore shot Katerina a grin and led Gabriella deeper into the club.

"Hi," Katerina yawned while watching Gabriella and Isidore walk away. "So what's your name?"

Before I could respond, a pair of arms wrapped around Katerina's stomach.

"Hey baby, I've missed you," a familiar voice slurred.

A smile spread across her face as she realized who it was. I tried to see who it was, but his head was bent down.

"Hey Alex!," Katerina exclaimed. " I missed you!"

As the men brought his head up, my eyes met familiar blue orbs. His jaw slightly dropped.  
"Mace?"

"Alex?"

A confused look crossed Katerina's face. "Do you guys know each other?"

Alex stiffly nodded. "Yeah, old friends." He looked back at me. "…but it's good to see you. How's Olympia?"

I scratched the back of my thin cottony hair. "Erm...I'm not exactly sure. She left a month ago."

He clicked his teeth scoldingly and shook his head. "What happened this time? Did you cause it?"

I shook my hand back and forth. "Kind of. It's related to Brendon and some island in the middle of the Atlantic called Paralynn."

Alex nodded in understanding. "Ah. Do you know how long she's going to be gone for?"

"No," I answered. "But if it's safer than here, it's fine…even though the enemy has been retreating."

Katerina's look of confusion grew. "Who is this…Olympia?"

A sense of déjà vu fell over Alex and I. Who is Olympia? If I got a penny every time a girl said that, I would be rich.

"She's the rebel that Mace here is trying to snag…and one my old crushes," Alex admitted.

"Will she ruin everything that we built?," Katerina asked worriedly.

Alex shook his head no. "Nah, she won't prevent us from getting married."

…Married? What? Since when? How long had Alex been engaged for and when did he meet Katerina? What he see in her? She was careless and cold.

"…Whoa there buddy," I said. "You're getting married?"

Alex widely smiled at me as he hugged Katerina even tighter.

"Yes, Katerina is my fiancée. We've been engaged for 3 weeks. I met her at the airport on the way back to the States…also she stopped me from going back with her model body." he sheepishly admitted. "Been in love ever since."

I cracked a small smile. "I wonder how Olympia's going to react when she sees that you got married."

Alex's grin fell."She's probably going to scold me for believing in love and marrying a model."

I nodded in agreement. Yeah. That sounded about right. Next to me, Katerina furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why would she scold you for believing in love?," she asked innocently to Alex.

Alex started to rub Katerina's back. "She doesn't believe in love. Don't know why though."

"Oh," she responded. Katerina turned to look at me. "What does she look like? What is her personality?"

I smiled at her for asking. "She has brown hair-"

"Long? Short? Curly? Straight? Wavy?," Katerina blurted out.

"…medium and straight," I answered.

"Bangs or no bangs. If she has them, what kind? Blunt? Emo/Scene? Side?

"…uh, emo/scene bangs."

"Eyes?," she asked while taking a sip of her grape juice. "Blue? Green? Grey? Amber? Brown? Hazel?"

" Light brown with a few golden specks."

"Eyelashes?"

"Long."

Katerina scratched her chin. "Skin color?"

"Pale."

"So she's white as a sheet of paper?"

I shook my head. "No, slightly darker."

"Smooth or rough?,"

"Beautiful," I answered.

Katerina frowned at my answer. "I asked smooth or rough."

I grunted. "Smooth."

She smiled. "Thank you. Next question: On a scale of one to ten on beauty, what would she be? 1 being fugly, 2 being ugly, 3-5 being average, 6 would be slightly above average. 7 would be cute, 8 would be pretty, 9 would be beautiful, and 10 would be drop dead gorgeous."

"11."

Katerina rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll take that as a 10. Is she nice? Mean? Both? Shy? Outgoing? Weird? Sane? Weak? Strong? Backbone? No backbone? Swearing? No swearing? Virgin? Not a virgin? Skinny? Fat? Girly girl? Tomboy? Goody two-shoes? Rebel?

"Both. Outgoing, Sane, in between, backbone, swears, I don't know if she's a virgin or not, skinny, 100% tomboy, and she's a rebel ."

Katerina glanced over at Alex. "Is he telling the truth?"

Alex nodded. "Yes babe, he's telling the truth."

Katerina smiled at him and glanced at her phone. She swore under her breath.

"It's been five minutes." Katerina looked up from her phone. "Would you 2 gentlemen like to help me find Gabriella?"

Alex looked between his fiancée and I. His eyes filled with sadness. "Sorry Katerina, I want to catch up with Mace.

Katerina's brown eyes darkened. "Fine. I'll go find her myself." She stared at Alex. "If I'm not back in 10 minutes, come find me okay?"

Alex smiled. "Yes baby, of course."

She nodded and headed deeper into the club.

"So do you miss her?," Alex asked me.

"Yeah," I answered. "I haven't seen her or gotten anything from her since she left Blackwater Academy."

Alex tensed up. "Right. About that…I'm sorry. Sorry for yelling at you for dropping me and stealing her from me. Even though she was never mine in the first place…but now I have Katerina."

"It's fine Alex. It's all good." Alex smiled. "…so what happened while I was gone from Blackwater Academy?"

His smile fell. "Citra got threats from some organization."

I raised my eyebrow. "Really? From who?"

"Brendon's, if my memory serves me correctly. He wanted to her to close it down so you and Olympia got separated. Luckily things turned out differently though. Brendon was planning on kidnapping Olympia from Blackwater Academy and forcing her to marry him. " Alex scratched his chin. "And I think that he's still searching for her."

My face paled. "Brendon wants to kidnap her?"

Alexander grimly nodded. "Yeah."

I ran my hands through my hair. Great. Just great. Brendon wanted world domination, Olympia, and my death. Wonderful. Best news this year…even though it was January.

"How do you know this?!," I asked/exclaimed.

"Eric."

"…Eric?," I asked. "How does he know all of this?"

"After Blackwater Academy closed, Eric went straight to some spy organization. He told me that he begged them to teach him the ropes of spying. Once his training was over, he got an assignment to spy on Brendon. During the month or two of spying, he learned a lot and he texted me all of the information."

"What is he doing now?"

Alex gulped. "He's dead. Brendon and his men found out that he was a spy and they weren't so nice. Even though he's dead, it's a good thing that he told me everything before he… left."

I tried to speak, but words wouldn't leave my mouth. Eric was dead. Brendon and his sick cronies had murdered him. A single tear fell from my eye. My friend was dead. He was one of my best friends. When my other friends trash talked Olympia or said that they wanted a piece of her ass, he defended both of us. He_ died _ for us. He died trying to uncover Brendon's dirty little secrets. I spat at the ground. Brendon was a sorry excuse for a prince.

"But I wasn't the only one that he told. He sent some confidential information to Isidore."

"….Confidential?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, but he didn't send a lot of confidential secrets to me. He just told me that Brendon wanted to kidnap Olympia and torture/murder you and that Brendon is a big fat liar." Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't know anything about the liar part though. If I knew, I would tell you."

I blew the extra air out of my mouth. "I can't believe that Eric died for us."

He nodded next to me. "Yes, Eric was a great man. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve getting slaughtered for trying to save everyone."

**Olympia's P.o.v.**

_"I'm afraid that you will Olympia Everson. Especially because you are going my beautiful queen wife-whether you like it or not." He paused for a moment and smiled. "And there's nothing-absolutely nothing you can do to stop me, my lovely goddess. Absolutely…nothing." _

His words still rung in my ears 2 hours later. I wanted to forget about them, but they wouldn't leave my mind.

_…you're going to be my beautiful queen…nothing you can do to stop me…_

Thinking about it made chills cover my arms and legs like a blanket. I wrapped the blanket around my body and closed my eyes, trying to find some peace.

No peace came.

My eyes snapped open to land on the spot where Selay used to be. Where she was before they took her away. My eyes drooped. I was alone in this stupid room. I squeezed my eyes shut, and eventually fell asleep.

_Two rich teenage boys sat on a bench in a gigantic garden. The first boy (Quick description: blonde hair, blue eyes)turned towards the second boy( Quick description: red hair and green eyes) and smiled. _

_"So, how are you Kane?," he asked the redhead. "I have not seen you in a long while."_

_Kane ignored the blonde and stared into the palace. Inside the palace, he could see a pretty lady washing the floor with a rag. _

_"…Who is that?!," Kane asked excitingly "I've never seen her before." _

_The blonde frowned, not happy with Kane's question. "She's just one of the palace maids, Kane." The Blonde shook his head. "I already thought that you had a girlfriend." _

_Kane stood up and started to walk towards the lady. Alarmingly, the blonde jumped up and followed Kane. _

_"Kane!," he exclaimed. "Come back! She's not worth it." _

_The redhead looked over his shoulder and gave the blonde a wicked grin._

_" Francisco, I want her…"_

_The scene changed. I was in a bed chamber. 3 figures stood in a dark room. From their shadows, I could tell that 2 of them were male, and one was a female. The first man had his arms wrapped around the petit woman. The second man let out a growl. _

_" I thought that we were friends and I thought that I could have her Francisco!" _

_A smile curved up Francisco's handsome face. "I never promised that you could have Olimpia. I thought that you would know that Kane." _

_Kane clenched his fists as a person entered the scene. The stranger looked between Olimpia, _

_"What's going on in here? Is everything alright." _

_"No."_

_"Yes."_

_"They're both lying," Olimpia whined in a Romanian accent. "They are fighting over me." _

_The stranger placed his hands on his hips. _

_"Is this true?," he asked Francisco. "Are you fighting over the beautiful slave from Eastern Europe?" _

_Kane's eyes darkened in anger. "What's it to you Maximus?" _

_Maximus gave Kane an icy gaze. "Francisco's my friend." _

_He rolled his eyes. "Of course. The two peas in a pod are best friends. I should've known." _

_And with that, he stormed out of the room._

_The scene changed again. A pregnant Olimpia sat next to an older Francisco. Francisco smiled down at her. _

_"What are you planning to name the baby?"_

_Olimpia grinned. "That is up to you. I'm your slave, aren't I?" _

_Francisco shook his head sadly and kissed her cheek. "You aren't my slave, Olimpia. You are my dream…or more." _

_Olimpia blushed and looked down at the ground. " No I'm not. I'm just a common slave from Romania." _

_Francisco ran his hands through his blonde hair. "I lov-"_

_"Oh save me from the dramatics. Surrender Francisco." _

_Francisco and Olimpia's heads turned to see Kane standing in the doorway. Olimpia shivered in fear. _

_"Francisco…"_

_Francisco shushed her and glared at Kane. "What do you want?" _

_Kane laughed and grinned. "I want you dead." And with that, he pulled a sword out of his jacket._

_Olimpia whimpered. "'Cisco…" _

_Francisco gave her a kiss. "Run away from here," he whispered. "Far, far away. There's a family in the land of the temples that will save you. Don't come back for me." _

_Tears started to water in her eyes. "But…"_

_"I love you," he whispered. "Now go! Save the baby!" _

_Olimpia quickly nodded and got the hell out of that room. The last thing that she heard where Francisco's screams echoing throughout the palace…_

"Wake up!," a voice shouted.

_**Clovis's P.O.V.** _

_"Wake up damn it!," _

"In a moment," I muttered.

"No moments," the voice spat out.

I ignored the voice and started to drift back into dream land.

"WAKE UP!"

_…_Let's justsay that I was in for a very rude awakening. Ice cold water soaked my entire body. I shivered and glared at the person who had awoken me from my slumber. My breath got caught in my throat.

Holy cow couldn't even describe the girl in front of me. And trust me, it wasn't the normal case of "holy shit a goddess is standing infront of me…I must kiss her feet". No, it was a case of 'I'm going to shit bricks in_ fear'_. She was dressed head to toe in black. In the knapsack on her back, sharp things pointed out in every direction. Pitch black eyes stared back at me, and her black lips were in a scowl.

"Staring wouldn't help you dumbass. Get the fuck up if you want to save your little doll"

I quickly got up and squeezed the water out of my shirt. After that, I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"Who the hell are you?"

Now looking back on it, it wasn't the smartest thing to say.

Her hand moved towards my cheek…then stopped. She growled and shook her head.

"I can't fucking hit you. You're too bruised. Bruised morons aren't helpful." She angrily twirled a stand of her curly black hair. "I'm Sevenic-to answer your trivial question. So called warrior princess of Paralynn. Murderer." Sevenic let go of the strand. "But don't fear me like a fucking idiot. I don't need scared 'servants'." She held her hand out and gave me an intense gaze. "Shake it."

I looked at her, confusion. "Why? Why should I?"

…second stupid thing that I did, suffice to say.

"Because I need your help murdering Brendon…that fucking bastard." Sevenic pulled out a little doll from her bag and dangled it in front of my eyes. "Do you know what this is?"

I shook my head no.

Sevenic rolled her eyes. "Brendon's voodoo doll. The key to murdering him."

My eyes widened. "Whoa whoa whoa. How am I supposed to help you kill him, when you can kill him yourself?"

Sevenic glared at me. "You'll find out soon enough Clovis, soon enough."

* * *

**A/N: There we go! Ha I can't wait to get to the good part. I'm just getting started :D**

**Here's a preview of the next chapter. **

_"They were a dangerous and manipulative family. I ran my hand through my hair. I shouldn't have signed the agreement. I should've ran away from the Stony estate before I innocently ruined my future."...__"So yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, I saw Duchess Madeline…" __"You were a fool to come here, arse." __The brunette shook his head. "No I'm not. Only a coward wouldn't come . You should know that Estève. I'm not afraid of you."_

**So there's the preview of/for chapter 2. I'm "almost" done with chapter 2. I've done 2/3 of it. **

**-MusicHuntress**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2. 3,285 words people, 3,285. That's more than half as long as the majority of the chapters in Fire's Rose and Warrior Princess.**

**Reviewed Review(s)**

** B. Martinez: Dude(tte), it's been less than a month. Come on. It hasn't been that long. :/**

* * *

I let out a frustrated grunt. _You'll find out soon enough. _ What the hell was that supposed to mean? And when was soon? Today? Tomorrow? A month? A year?

"That' s not helpful," I responded. "You didn't answer my question."

In front of me, Sevenic spun around. Her hands were clenched into balls and the angriest expression was on her face. I slightly recoiled in fear.

"I did answer your question," she bit out. "You're just too stupid to figure out what it means."

Sevenic turned back around and started to walk towards a house in the woods. I glared at her back. _ …You're just too stupid…_. The words banged around the inside of my head, desperate to get out. I clenched my jaw. I couldn't believe what Sevenic said. I wasn't stupid. Maybe ignorant, but I wasn't stupid. Sevenic was just making up lies…or assumptions. She didn't know a thing about me.

I continued to glare at her back as we walked deeper into the forest. After we had walked for at least 30 minutes, I stopped walking and observed the area around us.

The tropical trees reached up to touch the sky. Parrots flew around wildly. Squirrels ran up the tall trees. A blanket of green covered us like a blanket. Tropical flowers littered the ground. I looked over at Sevenic in awe.

"What is this place?"

A faint smile crossed her face.

"The only place that Brendon's damn minions left alone." She pointed up at the trees with big wooden boxes. "Those are tree houses. C'mon before the jaguars and panthers get to us." Sevenic took an arrow out of her bag and put it on her bow."They're usually hungry around this time of day."

I glanced around the forest…to be met with fierce, feline eyes. I gulped.

"I think we spoke too soon."

Sevenic let out chilly laugh as she pulled a clay jaguar out of her knapsack . "I suppose so. But don't worry, this shouldn't take that long-it's quick, painful death."

I shuddered at what she said and stared at the clay jaguar. "So you're going to-"

A crack and a wail cut me off. I looked at Sevenic with shock evident on my face.

"What did you do?!," I exclaimed, staring at her bloody hands . "And how..?!"

Sevenic rolled her eyes. "I crushed the clay jaguar, thus killing the real one. Isn't that obvious?"

I gulped. "Uh…"

Sevenic ignored my answer and walked towards the biggest tree house, which was probably 50 feet up above the ground. A long rope ladder hung down. Faint music and laughter drifted down from the house. Before I could ask Sevenic a question, she started to climb up the ladder. I frowned and followed her up the ladder.

After a few minutes of climbing, we finally reached the top. And let me tell you-the tree house was _huge._ It spanned across five trees, a rope bridge connecting each section. The house was at least 2 stories high. Sevenic and I stepped into the tree house. Loud rock music pounded in my ears as soon as I crossed the threshold . Couples grinded against each other and made out on the dance floor. I averted my eyes away from the dancers and on to Sevenic. A disgusted look was painted on her face.

"I hate dances," she mumbled. " They're gross and a waste of time."

I raised my eyebrows. "If you don't like dances, then why are we here?"

Sevenic scowled at the happy couples. "I need to tell you some…shocking information about Brendon. My room is on the second floor"

I searched the room for a staircase, but I couldn't find one.

"How do we get up there?"

Sevenic pointed at the huge tree trunk in the middle of the room. "There's a staircase in there that leads to the second floor."

I nodded in understanding as Sevenic led me towards the hidden staircase. Once we got through the sweaty crowd of couples, Sevenic let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, I couldn't blame her. I could still feel other people's sweat on my skin. I made a mental note to never do that anything.

"Get in," Sevenic said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "We don't have all day. If my cousin is correct, Brendon is going to murder Selay and marry Olympia."

Goosebumps swept all over my body. Something about her phrase scared the hell out of me. Whether it was the part about Selay or Olympia, I wasn't sure. Maybe both of things made me uneasy. I didn't want Selay to get murdered and I didn't want Olympia to marry Brendon. Although I have to admit, it would defiantly get rid of my…girl problems.

…actually, no. It wouldn't. It would magnify them. Selay and(or-?) Olympia gave me a reason to dump Amelia. Without them, I would have to-God forbid-marry Amelia. Don't ask me how I know that. I'm not exactly sure myself.

I know my parents wouldn't force me to marry her because both of them are dead. But Amelia's parents…they are a completely different story. Amelia's mother is a socialite and Mr. Stone is a wealthy businessman that works in the states. I've met them before and they aren't the nicest people.

Amelia's mother is a complete neat freak-and that's an understatement. I swear, even their trash cans are sparkly clean. It's insane. And then her personality...good grief, it's a mess. It's messier then the path of tornado. If you got in her way, you were good as dead. Nobody(and I mean _nobody_) escaped her wrath. I traced the scars on the top of my right hand and frowned. They were a constant reminder of Amelia, her mother, and the promise.

If I had to go back in time and change one thing, I would've made sure that I never met the Stones. They were a dangerous and manipulative family. I ran my hand through my hair. I shouldn't have signed the agreement. I should've ran away from the Stony estate before I innocently ruined my future.

If this whole thing(with Olympia and Selay) worked out, I wouldn't become Amelia's husband. Her lover. Her slave. And her _prisoner_. The only way to get out of the agreement was marry a women with high status. It sounded simple, but it wasn't. By high status, I mean a princess, queen, or duchess. You don't find a lot of princesses, queens, and duchesses today.

In my life time, I've only met 1 princess, 1 Queen, and 1 duchess. Queen Dia, Princess Olympia, and Duchess Madeline(but she's dead.). The fairest one that I've met is Olympia(no surprise there). The second fairest is Madeline(Olympia beats her by a hair.). I actually had the pleasure of meeting her once. Although I must confess that we didn't met under the best circumstances…

_It all started on one Monday afternoon. I don't remember why I was in the woods, but I was. I remember hearing a beautiful voice drifting through the forest. It was the prettiest thing that I had ever heard. It was unearthly. My 13 year old self walked towards the voice-the sirens' song. _

_" __…__O gratia salvum me fac in arma feror, Non eni possum hanc sume__-hic __tyrannus amoris__…__" _

_"Oh grace, save me, carry me in your arms, For I can't take this-this tyrant of love.," I muttered under my breath. _

_'What does it mean? Who's singing? Is it an angel? Or is it a siren?' My 13 year old self wondered. 'Whatever it is, it's beautiful.' _

_As I walked into a clearing in the woods, my breath got caught in my throat. There was an angel standing in the middle of the clearing. For a minute, I couldn't breathe. She was as beautiful as her voice. Dark brown hair tumbled down her back in waves. A sash of leaves started around her shoulder and ended right above her thighs. _

_So yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, I saw Duchess Madeline…_

_Naked. _

_It was almost too much for my 13 year old self to handle. Seeing beautiful women(or young lady in this case) naked is not a common occurrence. So I have another confession to make- I "fell in love" with Duchess Madeline the moment that I laid eyes on her. She was my first crush. Her voice…her body…it was hard not to fall. If she was alive today, I know for a fact that I would still be infatuated with Madeline. Even if she wasn't beautiful, I still would've had a crush on her. I'm a sucker for beautiful voices. _

_Anyways, her song was ruined by a squirrel. At the moment, I wanted to throttle the damn thing. How dare it ruin her 'fun'-or whatever you want to call it. I was 110% pissed. Off. _

_"Is anyone there?," the girl asked(when I first met her, I didn't know who she was.), turning around so I could see her face. Amber eyes stared at the spot next to me. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry and her pale pink lips quivered. "Please come out if anyone is there. I'm Duchess Madeline. Who are you?" _

_I was too stunned to speak. She was duchess Madeline? What was she doing in the forest? Why wasn't she in the village? Unfortunately by the time that I started to say my name, she was gone. _

"CLOVIS!," a familiar voice yelled. "STOP DAY DREAMING! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!"

The voice snapped me out of my thoughts. In front of me, Sevenic was looking at me with a worried expression.

"The papers-they're gone."

**_Mace's P.O.V. _**

"What?," I asked Katerina. "Are you sure that they're gone?"

Katerina nodded her head yes as Alex rubbed her back.

"Don't worry Kate, we'll find Isidore and Gabriella."

A tear rolled her check. " Alex, what if he's doing something bad to Brie? What if he is raping her?"

I looked away from Alex and Katerina. The situation at hand reminded me too much of Olympia's. The only difference was that Gabriella was already a 'captive'. Or maybe captive isn't the right word. I didn't know what Isidore's intentions were. I had no idea if Gabriella went with him willingly or he forced her to go with him.

One thing was the same though-I wanted to find both of them. Isidore had secrets that I wanted to know about and Brendon wanted Olympia. Hopefully Alex, Katerina, and I found them quickly. Something in my gut told me that I need to get the information from him as soon as possible. If I didn't, something bad was going to happen. I didn't want to wait and see what that bad thing was. If I had to take a guess, it probably had to do with Olympia. I frowned. That made everything even more urgent. I had to deal with Brendon before he captured Olympia.

Next to me, Alex's phone buzzed. Alex let go of Katerina and read the message on his phone. He frowned and looked at me with fearful eyes.

"It's about Olympia." He gulped. "She and some other people just murdered a bunch of Brendon's men. Before that, they killed some man called Mr. Wicks and a train station blew up." Alex nervously scratched his nose and looked up from his phone. "Olympia's in a lot of trouble."

Katerina frowned. "Whoa whoa there Alex, what about Brie and Isidore? Brie is in trouble."

Alex shut his old-fashioned phone. "I know sweetheart. We need to find Isidore immediately."

Katerina buried her head in his chest. "I know." A trail trailed down her cheek. Alex swiftly brushed it away and whispered something into her ear. Katerina nodded and gave him a hug. Before Alex and Katerina could follow me, I slipped farther into the nightclub. I would've waited for Alex and Katerina to follow me, but I wanted to talk to Isidore alone. What did he know about Brendon and Olympia? How did he find out? I desperately wanted to know. The sooner that I knew the secrets, the better. I strode towards the stairs and ran upstairs.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I gasped. There was a sword match. In the middle of the ring, two men stood facing each other. The man facing me had snow white hair and mischievous gray eyes. His cracked lips were in a frown. He flexed his muscles, as if to say "Look at me. I'm stronger than you." Some of the women in the audience swooned.

I couldn't tell much about the second man. His back was turned to me. I could only see the cuts on his back and his mop of black hair.

The white-haired boy took something from the boy behind him. When I saw what it was, my eyes widened. He was holding a sword. The brunette was defenseless until he grabbed a knife out his pocket. The white haired boy spat on the ground.

"You were a fool to come here, arse."

The brunette shook his head. "No I'm not. Only a coward wouldn't come . You should know that Estève. I'm not afraid of you."

Estève let out a frosty laugh as he circled the brunette.

"You're not afraid of me?" He stopped to scratch his chin. "Really? I highly doubt that." Estève slapped his cheek and frowned. "Even the bravest warriors are afraid of me. You're nothing but a pheasant."

The brunette shook his head in protest. "If they are afraid, then that makes them cowards. They can't face you without quivering in their boots. A true brave warrior would accept the challenge without any fear. And one more thing. If I'm just a pheasant, then why do you chase after me? Why are you intent on killing me?"

Estève growled. "You're wrong! You are afraid of me!" The edge of his sword cut into the brunette's shoulder. He dropped the knife and howled in pain. Estève ignored the brunette's protests and slashed at him. Luckily for the brunette, he evaded most of his strikes…until he tripped and crashed to the ground. Estève's haunting laughter rang through the room.

"Now look whose afraid!," Estève said smirking. "I would kill you right now, but right now torturing you looks more fun."

Bile rose in my throat. What gave Estève the right to treat the man like that?! It made me sick to my stomach. Before I knew it, I was shouting at him to stop it.

"STOP THIS MADNESS!," I yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"

Estève looked at me and frowned while the brunette turned his head to face me. I froze. The brunette was Isidore. The fact that it was Isidore only fueled my anger.

"JUST BECAUSE HE'S A PHEASANT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO KILL HIM! I'M ASHAMED OF YOU! BY THE POWER PRINCE MACE OF DENMARK, I DEMAND YOU TO STOP!"

By the time that I had finished, everyone was stunned. I couldn't blame them. Why would the Prince of Denmark be watching a fight in a random club in Europe?

I pulled the curved sword out of my backpack and glared at Estève. A look of shock was on his face-then it turned dark. He smiled mischievously.

"The Prince of Denmark and Isidore in the same room?!" Estè ve threw back his head and slapped his knee. "Oh boy, today must be my special day! I get to kill two birds with one stone!" He turned to face the crowd and smirked. "Men, get them. I refuse to let Isidore and his ally to live!"

**Olympia's P.O.V. **

Shit was the first word that popped into my head as I watched Brendon stride into my room. He locked the door behind him. I crossed my arms and glared at Brendon.

"What do you want?"

Brendon smiled and walked towards me. My expression soured. Why did he have to ruin my life? Why couldn't he do it to someone else's life?

"You know, I don't get it," he said, gesturing at me. "You look like a heavenly angel that can't hurt a fly-yet you're as fiery as the devil. How can something that looks so heavenly and virgin-like be so vixen-like and fiery?"

I didn't answer his question. He continued on. " And how can something so heavenly reject luxuries? How can you say no to what makes every girl swoon?"

I rolled my eyes at Brendon. God, he was so clueless. I was fiery and vixen-like because I was raised that way. My cousins and aunt treated me like I was dirt on the bottom of their shoes. Before Blackwater Academy and after Blackwater Academy. Orpheus dumped me for one of my friends …

_ I was sitting by myself eating lunch. So far it had been a normal day. My teachers had given me some homework. I learned things that I didn't know before. It was a day that most people would call boring. Unfortunately it couldn't stay boring. I wish that it had. I wish that I wasn't so thirsty that I had to pee. But then again, it was probably a good thing that I was near the bathroom. No one would have to see my horrifically tear streaked face. _

_It crushed my heart the day that I saw it. I saw him cheating on me. Well fine. He wasn't exactly cheating on me. It still crushed my heart. My heart was finally crushed after Orpheus and Tam. As you know, Tam pretended to love me. After Tam dumped me, Orpheus swooped to the rescue. He comforted me when I was crying over Tam. He took me to dinner and amusement parks. Orpheus made me feel a lot better. He gave me presents. He even gave me teasing kisses. _

_I should have known that the kisses weren't out of love. They were friendly kisses. I took them the wrong way. They weren't supposed to be romantic. I thought that they were. Valentine's day was the day that it happened on. There were rumors going around the school that Orpheus was going to ask me out. He even dropped hints. _

_But that was the same day that I caught him making out with some other girl. It didn't help that the girl that was making out with was one of my friends. When I took in the scene, tears pricked my eyes. Both of them had betrayed me. If I was who I am now, I would've been pissed off. I would've gone up to Orpheus and Anwen and broken them apart. I would've yelled at them for betraying me when I needed them the most. Like I said before, I was absolutely devastated. _

_I wish that I had the guts to face Orpheus and Anwen back then. I wish that I didn't break down crying. I wish that I was stronger. Reflecting back on it, I realize how stupid I looked when Orpheus saw me… _

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Brendon. For once his hair wasn't slicked back. His hair hung over his amber eyes-but just barely. You could see most of his eyes. A look of anxiety, confusion, and curiosity was painted over Brendon's face. I narrowed my eyes at him for making me remember Orpheus and Anwen. It was a painful memory for 2 reasons. 1-it hurt a lot and 2-I reacted like an idiot.

"If you had a past like mine, you would be the same way," I snapped at him. "Cold, fierce, and negative." I shook my head. "You know what Brendon?"

Brendon rose his eyebrows in curiosity. "What is it my darling?"

"For being a prince, you're _really _stupid."


	4. Author's Note

**A/N: **

Right now Queen of Masquerades is on hiatus/on hold. I've decided to focus my attention on editing Fire's Rose and Warrior Princess. I don't know how long Queen of Masquerades is going to be put on hold for. It could be a few days, months, years...I have no clue. If you could just hang in there, I would greatly appreciate that.

* * *

Editing Fire's Rose probably won't take as long as editing Warrior Princess. I'm changing a couple of things in Fire's Rose I' m going to **change the title**-which is undecided- I'm changing **Sarah(you know the annoying blonde?) to Sari(who is A LOT different from Sarah)**,** adding a new characte**r, **'redefining' my character, changing the 'start' of Mace's and Olympia's relationship, getting rid of all the nicknames and name changes(Olympia/Cinderella/Coco to Ever to_.), all of the flashbacks(the chapter about Elizabeth's childhood, the fight with Phoenix, Dragon, Serpent, and Kraken...), I _might _keep Cinnamon and the other dude, Kalyn to Citra, and some other things(that are undecided).**

* * *

As for Warrior Princess, I'm changing...

** Ulani/Jade** is an angel.** No, she's not going to be an angel. **

**Xanthe and Ulani's presence-they are barely going to be in the second book.** I don't know if they'll be in there at all. Which means that they're going to be somewhere else at the end of Fire's Rose. They aren't going to be with Mace and Olympia.

-Ok, so **when Clovis and Olympia meet**, I think that I made Clovis not believe in love. Then somehow he ends up having Amelia as a girlfriend. That doesn't make any sense.

-**Amelia isn't going to be Clovis's GF**. In the 'new' version, Amelia doesn't exist. Clovis's new girlfriend is going to be named Indah and she's Indonesian/Armenian/Azerbaijani or something like that. In other words, she isn't going to be a blonde bitch.

-**No scene with Romeo and Mackenzie**(chapter 4 of W.P.-the balcony of blood). That scene was just weird. Esp. Xanthe's reaction.

**-the tattoo that says Olympia's real identity**. That's just...I don't know. Unnecessary? No tattoo.x_x shoo!

**-The name of the island that Olympia is the princess of**. Right now I'm thinking of naming it Odalis instead of Paralynn. ^_^ But of course that could change.

-**Departure from Denmark. **I'm think that all the shooting and running through the castle can go away.

-**Ulani isn't cursed.** If I follow through with everything up there, there is no need for Ulani to be cursed. Plus I didn't mention it a lot in W.P. and Ulani and Xanthe rarely appear.

-**All of the physical changes in Denmark**. No thank you!

-**Fire/Mana/Square killing**. I need to make Brendon practically non-existent in Paralynn.

-**Firie**. No goddesses allowed! ~_^ Shoo!

-**Brendon's men are NOT kidnapping Olympia**(even though that's what W.P. basically centered around.) No, Olympia, Clovis, and the other characters are going to be fugitives on the run.!

**-No myth of majestic fountain. **

**-No Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter, queen of fire, king of fire, and Lois. **All of those are gonna be gone.

**-No Everson/Wicks curse. **That's was just weird in my opinion.

- **Lastly, Lux=Dustin, Amelia=Indah, and Indigo=Scarlett with a twin brother named Raven. **

**-Redefined characters-**Throughout Warrior Princess, I felt like my characters where extremely weak, Not physical weak, but like they were flat characters. I felt like they weren't very centered/round. Multiple times I had to go back and read parts with _character and made sure that _'s actions matched. Over the last 3-4 days, I've done some character interviews. To be complete honest, it's helped a lot so far. I've interviewed Olympia, Ulani, Alex, Eric, Darla, Domenica, Mace, Nicole, Yasmine, Penny, Sari, Xanthe(said as Zan-thee or Kahns-thee), and Clovis. I still have to interview Dustin/Lux, Indah/Amelia, Raven, James, Scarlett, Jenna(?) , Selay, Sevenic, and Veronica. If anybody wants me to post the interviews, I can do that. I'm sure that you might be quite surprised at some of them(Sari, Clovis, Domenica, possibly Olympia's...).

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As for the title changes, here are the options. There are more options for Warrior Princess than for Queen of Masquerades and Fire's Rose.

**Fire's Rose:**

-Love Me, Hate Me

-Burn Me, Drown Me

**Warrior Princess:**

-Catch Me, Release Me

-Kiss Me, Kill Me

-Poison Me, Revive Me

-Curse Me, Cure Me

**Queen of Masquerades: **

-Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice

-Trust Me, Deceive Me

If you have any suggestions, comment or PM me.** I'm looking for _ Me, _Me titles. **The words that you fill in should be opposites(ex: Curse and Cure .)

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That's it for now. If you want to ask a question, suggest something, want to know how progress is coming along, see the partly edited version of Fire's Rose, or 'vote' for one of the titles; the review/comment button/box should be down below.

Thanks for reading!

~MusicHuntress


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